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Unlocked Phone question.

Darth_Stuticus

Feb 12, 2012, 3:09 PM
I'm looking into getting my first Smartphone however I have some things holding me back.

I want a physical keyboard for my first endeavor because I'm not comfortable moving to all touchscreen yet and Verizon doesn't carry a phone that appeals to me as I'm not a fan of Sliders. I'm thinking of looking into purchasing an Unlocked LG Genesis as I have the Voyager now, and its basically the same phone but with Android.

I wont be using much data at all and I can't justify a $30 data pack. I still do want to keep my current $10 data pack so I have enough for email and basic web searches on the go, but the majority of any downloads I need to make will be done though my Wi-Fi.

Does Verizon allow phones from other CDMA carriers if they are ...
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Jellz

Feb 12, 2012, 6:29 PM
"Unlocking" is really only done for GSM phones, because it's easy to swap SIM cards. With CDMA, both Verizon and Sprint don't allow non Verizon or Sprint phones. So you'd need to get a phone from Verizon. And a smartphone would need one of their smartphone data plans.
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Darth_Stuticus

Feb 12, 2012, 7:23 PM
I know both used to allow it, Sprint stopped using other carriers phoenes first. I saw an article a while back saying Verizon was going to follow Suit, but one of the local Store reps said they still allow it.
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Jellz

Feb 12, 2012, 7:40 PM
I'm pretty certain I saw someone else post on here (that actually works for Verizon) that said they only take Verizon phones now. Which makes sense, that way they have more control over what phones you use, and it lets them offer better support for everyone. Mostly the control, though.
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Darth_Stuticus

Feb 12, 2012, 7:47 PM
Companies want to keep sales in house. Makes sense enough, The store gave the me whole spiel of, you can do it if you really want to but the phone may only be able to make calls and text, we can't guarantee any of other features will work thing. Maybee i'll call into customer care and ask a bunch of different agents and see what Kind of response I get there. Avoiding buying the phone would be prudent if it definitely wont work.
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vzwinagent

Feb 12, 2012, 8:55 PM
Short answer, you can't do it.

Officially they have a policy where you can send in a CDMA phone and have it tested and approved, but who really is going to go through that.

Verizon keeps a database of all their ESNs allowed on the network. If you try to activate a different ESN the system won't recognize it and allow it. I believe this is in part to do with E911 rules. All phones being activated on the network must be E911 GPS capable. That's tracked by ESN in the system. They know all their phones and allowed ESNs are. Others they have no clue about. That was probably more of an issue a few years ago when there might have been a decent amount of non GPS phones around still.

As someone else said features are also an issue. A...
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Darth_Stuticus

Feb 12, 2012, 9:04 PM
Pretty much the same thing as Sprint then, oh well. Any word on the return of that $20 reduced data smartphone package? I've heard it was supposed to be coming back, I just can't justify spending $20 MORE a month than I am now when I'm not going to use any more data.
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vzwinagent

Feb 12, 2012, 9:06 PM
I haven't. Double the data came back on 4G devices, but so far nothing on that. I'd be surprised if it came back. I wouldn't be surprised if they made the double the data eventually permanent for 4G though.
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epik

Feb 12, 2012, 10:57 PM
I wouldn't bet money on it coming back.
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epik

Feb 12, 2012, 10:56 PM
At first, I thought part of this thread was from 2003.

I've been a Verizon employee for a very long time - more than 8.5 years. The last Sprint phone that I could put on a Verizon line was their version of the Samsung a670 - CIRCA 2005. The two carriers have block each other's ESNs since then.

Technically, you could always submit the phone to Verizon for testing, and if approved, they will activate it. But that program never materialized for consumers, so I doubt you'll get anything out of it, nor have the necessary time waiting for them to say no.
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Darth_Stuticus

Feb 13, 2012, 2:20 PM
Well the phone I want to use is from US Cellular but it sounds like that won't make much of a difference.
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epik

Feb 13, 2012, 2:23 PM
Unfortunately, no, it won't.
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